{pretty, happy, funny, real} - vol. 71

{pretty}

I love decorating our "mantel" for July! Think someday I'll live in a place with a real fireplace again? I'd love to. And does it bother you, too, that the cradle is literally one inch too wide to fit in the opening? Then again, would that be weird to have a cradle in a fireplace opening? Probably. Not that it stopped me from putting it right in front of it. He doesn't use it as much as the Luke did. Luke could sleep through anything as a newborn. This guy has been a pretty good sleeper but only if he's upstairs and away from all the noise. The plan was to have that on the porch for the summer and he would take blissful naps outside in the fresh air but alas, the rainy, coolish summer has made it impossible. Plus, our porch…well, you'll see in a bit.

Our day lilies are blooming. The flower beds are not super beautiful on the whole this year but up close? Yes. The rain has made for lots of weeds and we had a crazy year for the maple tree propellers. Seriously, it was on the news. (It's Buffalo. #slownews #butratherpropellersthanmurders) There are little maple trees sprouting up ev-er-y-where.

A few years ago this raspberry bush sprouted up randomly behind Mary. It makes me happy. This is the most we've ever gotten but the boys have spent the last few days "harvesting" them and bringing in little handfuls from here and from another bush that sprouted up in the way back.

{happy}

May I gush a bit?

This boy.

Oh my goodness, you guys. He has stolen our hearts. He's started smiling and the beginnings of the cooing and oh man. He can get the whole family gathered around just to watch. You look at him and he just breaks out into the biggest baby grin and you better watch out because it makes you want to explode with joy.

I love that a baby can bring people so much joy and connect people. When we were away on that little overnight and pretty much anytime I'm out, people always want to stop and chat and admire. It pulls me out of my comfort zone in a really good way and makes people happy. God was pretty smart making these baby people.

{funny and real}

Now back off the oxytocin rush…the other day while I'm sweeping the porch, I literally am thinking to myself, "Man, I wish we had the time and energy to replace all this wood. Or maybe have the money to pay someone…I wonder how much that would be?" Seconds later this happens:

My foot went right through.

Thankfully I didn't get hurt at all (that porch is three or four feet high) and I'm grateful I wasn't holding the baby so I could laugh about it…but it looks like something will be moving to the top of the to-do list! There are other parts that are rotting, too, so we can't just replace a few boards. The whole floor needs replacing and it'll be a big project. I love old homes so much but they do involve a lot more work and I'm dreaming more and more of a move…

(Can anyone tell me who I look up to tackle a project like this?? I have a feeling we'll end up doing it ourselves but it would be nice to get an estimate just to know. We almost never hire out for things so I don't even know what kind of person to call!)

3 comments

What a little cutie! Our littlest guy is just a few weeks older than yours & we are SO enjoying all the cooing and smiling as well! Nothing sweeter!I love where you have the cradle though those couple of inches would annoy me as well! ;)

Such a cute little baby. And yes, they are the ultimate attention getters! Even when in-utero, strangers are still interested and want to talk. As for the deck, we just replaced ours. It was a big project (second story deck, full length of house, two staircases), so we put it off as long as possible due to the expense and safety concerns (2 year olds and missing second story decks are not compatible). But, it's done and seriously I love it so much. I underestimated how much of a difference it would make, and even now, three months later, my husband and I still comment about how nice our new deck is. I bet you will love your new one too! We used a carpentar who is a good friend of ours - he works alone so it is cheaper than paying a whole crew, but it took much longer too. We did a lot of the demo ourselves to save money, and our boys loved that part. I bet yours would too ;)

Oh sweet baby :) Never too many pictures of him! And we've had crazy amounts of maple seedlings popping up this year too... Granted, we have three very large maple trees in our yard, which can account for it, but I'm still finding them in the garden every single day! Can't get rid of them...

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